Friday, April 27, 2012

The End?

I had a surreal moment yesterday afternoon. I suddenly became aware that the semester was ending, and I was caught off guard. It sounds dumb, but it hadn't actually registered in my head that the reason my big-ass class project was due this week was because we only have a week left of class, and then finals week is after, and then nothing. I recall a couple weeks ago being kind of annoyed because it felt like it was due "too soon" in the semester. No. It is due exactly when it should be.

I don't know if it's because I don't really have exams anymore, or I'm not teaching, but at the end of both this past fall and this spring I have had almost zero concept of time and the calendar. A week goes by, a month goes by, and it's all the same to me. I recall I was having anxiety over something back in February, and I felt like I been dealing with it for several weeks. Turns out I was way off, it had only been one week.

Maybe I'm impatient, and that is screwing with my concept of time. I'm simultaneously tired of waiting for certain things, and other things can take their sweet time for all I care. I've also been very distracted lately, which means I'm not really paying attention to many things around me, like time.

This hasn't had any permanent or detrimental consequences, yet, so I'm not worried.
I'm living in the moment, for now.

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This is the story of finishing my master's thesis at Penn State and moving to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque to start, and hopefully complete, a PhD. It's a major change and a huge adjustment and I'll be documenting my successes, mistakes, musings, triumphs, and tragedies.

About Me

Throughout my master's degree, I witnessed my friends with their PhDs, suffering immensely. I decided in the 11th hour of my thesis that I wanted to join them. To that end, I moved to Albuquerque to attend the University of New Mexico in fall 2010. That means I moved away from friends and family on the east coast for adventures out in the southwest. Temporary moment of insanity? Nah.
I'm a paleoecologist, which means I study fossils to understand long term ecological trends in earth's history. My current research is on the last ice age, specifically, changes in climate and associated effects on biota.